I tell kids from the moment they walk in the room that they must sign their
work, and it will be hung up somewhere in the school. either in the art room,
or in the hall, or in the library (you can hear their groans a mile away). And
then I tell them if their is no name on the work, they get no credit for doing
it. (So they get in the habit of signing their work early on). If they aren't
finished when everyone is ready to move on, so be it, it will get hung up
unfinished. So early on the 'slow' workers ask if they can take their work
home to finish it (push the responsibility back onto the kids--it's THEIR work
afterall). I have been known to extend deadlines, if and only if, the whole
class is working hard, and they, as a group, won't be done on time. I
definitely DON'T extend deadlines for the 'slackers'...their work gets
displayed 'as is'..(as one kid said "geeze you are teaching embarassment").

Is this a perfect system? No, no system is... especially since I do feel people
have a right to fail on their own terms. Failure teaches something
tangible...maybe it's that art takes more work than you imagined and that it is
an intellectual activity.....maybe it teaches you that you don't like rules and
regs, maybe it teaches you that you are a procrastinator and need to get your
act together....whatever the lesson, and perhaps there is NO lesson, it is best
arrived by the kid,,,,not by me adding to the shrill female voices already in
his life. I simply don't nag, bitch or whine..don't finish it, don't turn it
in, fine. end of story, live with the consequences. (you get a 'work' grade
every week, and you get a 'critique' grade, and you get a 'project' grade).

San D

Buerkle, Jennifer wrote:

> I've made a lot of progress in getting kids to put their names on projects> by giving them each a half a page of blank labels. First thing in the new> year or semester they use a ballpoint to write their name and class on each> label. Then it is up to THEM to label their work. I don't know WHY, but> they just love to use those little sticky things and label like made.> Sometimes TWO on a piece of artwork!>> Jen>> ps if you wan't them looking really spiffy and have the time, you could> use a label program and any computer-based class list and print them out,> along with other data like age, grade, etc. Probably take a couple of> hours, but might be worth the time.>> j